


Striped Rain

by SilverRainbow99



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Pets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-01
Updated: 2015-03-01
Packaged: 2018-03-15 18:10:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3456863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverRainbow99/pseuds/SilverRainbow99
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Officer Jenny is heartbroken after the death of her Growlithe, Tether. But it's amazing how little things can heal so much.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Striped Rain

**Author's Note:**

> This fanfiction was published May 6th, 2012 on fanfiction.net. It was the first fanfiction I have ever written. It's a one-shot that anyone with a pet can relate to. I hope you enjoy it.

I stare at the closed coffin in disbelief, unable to breath. The funeral was over, and he was truly gone.

“I’m sorry, Jenny.” Nurse Joy whispered as she walked away.

The guests all left until I was all alone, just me, and the corpse of Tether.

I wasn’t supposed to name the Growlithe, to get attached to him, and love him like I did. I could never take Tether home even though it was I who found him attached to a gnarled rope on the side of the road, I who fed him and cared for him when he was sick.

They took him, and made him a police dog. I could seldom stroke his fur, feel the heat radiate from his body, show the affectionate smile I longed to reveal. But now that he was gone, I could never tell him he was more than a tool.

I wish I could say he died a noble death. Fighting a powerful villain or defending the town. But he simply followed his new mate, a street rat of a Growlithe, across the road, and was hit by a car. My best friend and partner died because he was too absorbed to look both ways.

Tears singed my eyes. Could you imagine the pain I felt when I walked outside to see Tether’s mangled corpse strewn along the side of road? Could you imagine how long I stayed there, begging for him to come back until Nurse Joy finally helped me get up? Could you imagine that I almost wanted to die?

I stayed in the funeral home until the elderly couple in charge said I had to go. I knew they didn’t want me to see Tether get cremated. They knew I couldn’t handle the pain.  
I tried to concentrate on the happy. Tomorrow my boyfriend, John, would come back from his business trip. He will tell his corny and jokes and he will laugh and I will laugh, but this time I won’t really be laughing because I am dead inside.

I walked home, rain pouring down on my shoulders. I didn’t care. The dark splotches matched the drops of tears. I got home and ripped off my black dress, changing into warm pajamas. Then I heard a scratch at the door. I opened it, mascara running down my face.

Outside sat the street rat Growlithe and four pups, barely a day old. I recognized Tether’s old mate by her golden coat. The pups whimpered, the rain stinging their fire-type skin. Their mother hushed them with a warm smile. She picked up one pup by the neck, kissed her on the nose, and pushed her towards me. The realization snaps.

_These are Tether’s pups._

Tether’s mate stared at me, and I gently picked up the baby with shaking hands .The puppy licked me with a small pink tongue. I laughed. Tether’s mate smiled and in a puff of Smoke Screen, the other Pokémon are gone. But the Growlithe was still in my arms, wiggling her stumpy tail.

I call her Roxy, and she seems to like it, the way she barks and runs around when I say it. I can cuddle her and stroke her, and no one can take her away, for she is not theirs, she is mine.

Roxy is not Tether, and I know she never will be. But whenever she looks at me, and I see that playful light in her eye, and she nuzzles me with her silky head, I know it is Tether’s way of saying he’s still here.


End file.
